Bush is advised to quarrel with Putin

US Senator John McCain, if he were President George W. Bush, “probably would not go to the G8 summit, which is to be held in St. Petersburg in July under the chairmanship of Russia. McCain himself stated this on Sunday on NBC. The influential Republican senator from Arizona made a reservation, however, that he “should not dictate to the President of the United States,” but he himself “would be very tough.” And in general, “there was no need to include Russia in the G8 of industrialized countries. Moreover, “glimpses of democracy in this country today are very weak.”

McCain recalled President Bush's impressions of his first meeting with Vladimir Putin in June 2001. Bush then said that he had "understood the essence of the soul" of his Russian colleague - a man "very open and trustworthy." “We all say stupid things,” McCain condescended. “And I’m sure the president has reevaluated his approach in light of Putin’s latest actions.” Among these, the senator included attempts at “restoration of the Russian Empire,” support for the “authoritarian regime” in Belarus, “intervention in Ukraine,” reluctance to cooperate with the United States on the issue of Iran’s alleged development of nuclear weapons and “suppression of the free press.”

At the end of March, President Bush, speaking at the Washington human rights organization Freedom House, said that he “is not giving up on Russia.” According to him, “not going to the G8 summit, as some advise, would be a mistake.” Including because a trip to St. Petersburg will provide an opportunity to raise issues of concern to the United States there. The president was supported by his national security adviser, Stephen Hadley. He noted the “great value of participating in the summit,” because “the Russians will be asked to answer tough questions.”

McCain first took up arms against Russia's G8 presidency in February. Then he said that Russia “is neither a democratic country nor one of the leading economies in the world.” But “the main thing is the Kremlin’s pursuit of domestic and foreign policies that strongly diverge from the interests and values” of the United States. A year earlier, McCain, together with fellow Democrat Joseph Lieberman, proposed a draft resolution to suspend Russia's membership in the G8, but the Senate rejected it.

The American press links the statements of 69-year-old McCain with his possible candidacy for the presidency of the United States in 2008.

Alexey SLOBODIN